Upgradeable media wall converter and housing

ABSTRACT

An upgradeable media converter housing having a front housing and a rear housing. The front housing has a port for receiving a first connector, and a plurality of notches located on a periphery of the front housing. The rear housing has an open first end and a closed second end located distally from the first end. The rear housing also has a shoulder region located adjacent to the first end and a tubular region coupling the shoulder region to the closed end. A plurality of ramped protrusions located on an exterior surface of the shoulder engage a plurality of ramped protrusions located on the exterior surface of the shoulder of the rear housing to provide a snap-fit connection. The media converter fits into an existing faceplate of a wall outlet and can be upgraded by replacing a daughter board with another daughter board having a different converter mounted thereon.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to telecommunications equipmentand, more particularly, to a converter and its housing for providingconnections between telecommunication transmission lines.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Various electrical/fiberoptic connectors are known for use in thetelecommunications industry to transmit voice, data and video signals. Acommon connector configuration includes a faceplate or outlet that ismounted on a structure such as a wall. The faceplate defines a pluralityof openings in which connectors can be mounted. A typical connectorincludes a modular jack defining a port sized for receiving aconventional modular plug. Other conventional types of connectorsinclude SC connectors, ST connectors, BNC connectors, F connectors andRCA connectors, for example.

With respect to electrical/fiberoptic connectors for thetelecommunications industry, it is important that such connectors beeasily installed, easily accessible after installation and easilyrepaired and/or upgraded. In this regard, it is desirable for theconnector to be front mounted within their corresponding faceplates. Byfront mounting the connectors, the connectors can be accessed withoutrequiring their corresponding faceplates to be removed from the wall.

In addition, as technologies advance, it is desirable to provide anadapter that is easily upgradable in a cost efficient manner. Forexample, it is desirable to provide an adapter that can be upgraded tooperate at faster transmit rates or different protocols withoutreplacing the entire adapter.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a mediaconverter housing having a front housing and a rear housing. The fronthousing has a port for receiving a first connector, and a plurality ofnotches located on a periphery of the front housing. The rear housinghas an open first end and a closed second end located distally from thefirst end, the rear housing having a shoulder region located adjacent tothe first end and a tubular region coupling the shoulder region to theclosed end, and a plurality of ramped protrusions located on an exteriorsurface of the shoulder, the plurality of ramped protrusions located onthe exterior surface of the shoulder of the rear housing engage theplurality of notches on the front housing to provide a snap-fitconnection.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided anupgradeable converter including a housing assembly and a circuitassembly located within the housing assembly. The circuit assemblyincludes a first connector for transmitting and receiving signals in afirst format, a second connector for transmitting and receiving signalsin a second format wherein the second format is different than the firstformat, and a converter electrically coupled to the first and secondconnectors wherein the converter converts signals received in the firstformat to the second format and vice versa at a predetermined speed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate several aspects of the inventionand together with the description, serve to explain the principles ofthe invention. A brief description of the drawings is as follows:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a media converter housing according to apreferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the front housing shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the rear housing shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the front housing shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a front elevational view of the front housing shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the rear housing shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 is a bottom plan view of the rear housing shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view from the front of a circuit assemblyaccording to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view from the bottom of the circuit assemblyshown in FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of an assembled media converter accordingto a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a perspective back view of the assembled media convertershown in FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is a front, perspective view of two converters according to thepresent invention mounted in a faceplate.

FIG. 13 is a rear, perspective view of two converters according to thepresent invention mounted in a faceplate.

FIG. 14 is a front perspective view of a circuit assembly according toanother preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a rear perspective view of the circuit assembly shown in FIG.14.

FIG. 16 is a schematic illustration of an adapter used to power themedia converter of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a wiring schematic of the adapter shown in FIG. 16.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to preferred aspects of the presentinvention that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wheneverpossible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout thedrawings to refer to the same or like parts.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a housing assembly for a media converteraccording to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The mediaconverter housing assembly 10 includes a front housing 12 and a rearhousing 14. In a preferred embodiment the front housing 12 is separatefrom the rear housing 14 although, in another preferred embodiment theymay be formed as an integral piece. The front housing 12 and the rearhousing 14 are coupled together via snap-fit connections 16 which willbe described in greater detail hereinafter. The front housing 12 has aport 18 formed therein to provide access to a connector such as amodular jack such as an RJ-45 jack (not shown). The front housing 12also has four ramped tabs 20, two of which are located on a top surfaceof the front housing 12 and the other two of which are located on abottom surface of the housing 12. The ramped tabs 20 allow the mediaconverter housing assembly 10 to be retained within a faceplate of awall outlet as will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 12and 13.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the front housing 12 shown in FIG. 1.The front housing has two top tabs 22 and a bottom tab 26 as seen inFIG. 4. Each of the top tabs 22 and bottom tabs 26 has a notch 24 formedtherein. FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the front housing shown in FIG. 2.It can be seen that the bottom tab 26 extends between the top tabs 24.FIG. 5 is a front elevational view of the front housing 12 shown in FIG.2.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the rear housing 14 shown in FIG. 1. Therear housing 14 forms a receptacle to receive an adapter circuitassembly (not shown). In particular, the rear housing 14 has an openfront 34 and a closed back wall 36. The proximal portion of the rearhousing 14 has a shoulder region 40 and distal to that is a modifiedtubular member 38. Formed through a wall of the shoulder region 40 areapertures 42 which will be described in detail hereafter. The rearhousing has two ramped protrusions 30 located on a top portion of therear housing 14 in the shoulder region 40. Also, as can be seen in FIG.7, a ramped protrusion 32 is formed substantially in the center of abottom portion of the shoulder region 40. As will be describedhereinafter, the ramped protrusions 30 of the rear housing 14 engage thenotches 24 formed in the top tabs 22 of the front housing 12 and theramped protrusion 32 of the rear housing 14 engages the notch 24 formedin the bottom tab 26 of the front housing 12 to provide the snap-fitconnection.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view from the front of a circuit assembly 100which can be located within housing 10 shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 9 is aperspective view from the bottom of the circuit assembly shown in FIG.8. The circuit assembly includes a motherboard 110, and a daughter board114. The motherboard 110 has electrically coupled thereto two opticfiber connectors 116 via coupling 118. The motherboard 110 also haspreferably an RJ-45 jack 122 mounted thereon. The RJ-45 jack 122 iselectrically coupled to the motherboard 110. The daughter board 114 has,preferably, on one side filters 126 and a converter chip 128 located onthe other side. In a preferred embodiment, the connectors 116 areoptical type connectors which have a bayonet 130 located on a ferrule131 of the connector as is well known. The daughter board 114 is coupledto the motherboard 110 preferably by connectors 124, which are boardinterface connectors.

The circuit assembly 100 converts electrical signals received by theRJ-45 jack to optical signals and outputs the optical signal throughconnectors 116 to a fiber optic cable (not shown), and vice versa. In apreferred embodiment, the converter 128 is a 10BASE-T converter. Becauseof the novel construction of circuit assembly 100 and housing 10,daughter board 114 can be removed and replaced with another daughterboard 114 having a different converter such as a 100BASE-TX converterthereby allowing the converter to be upgraded.

By making the circuit assembly upgradeable by simply replacing thedaughter board, data rates can be increased and protocols may be changedat a reduced cost since the existing circuit assembly need not bereplaced with a new one.

FIG. 10 is a front perspective view of an assembled media converter 200according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. It can beseen that the rear housing 14 and the front housing 12 are coupledtogether by the ramped protrusions 30 engaging the notches 24 formed inthe top tabs 22 of the front housing 12 and the ramped protrusion 32formed in the rear housing 14 engaging notch 24 formed in the bottom tab26 of the front housing 12 which cannot be seen. The RJ-45 jack 122 isaccessible through the port 18 formed in the front housing 12. The opticfiber connectors 116 extend through the apertures 42 formed in theshoulder region 40 of the rear housing 14 so as to be exterior to thehousing. As shown in this preferred embodiment, an ST fiber connector202 is coupled to each of the optic fiber connectors 116 via a coupler204. More particularly, the coupler 204 has a groove 206 which engagesthe bayonet 130 of each optic fiber connector 116 as is well known tothose of ordinary skill in the art. FIG. 11 is a rear perspective viewof the assembled media converter 200 shown in FIG. 10. From this viewthe closed back wall 36 of the rear housing 14 can be seen as well asthe optic fiber connectors extending through the apertures 42 in theshoulder region 40 of the rear housing 14.

FIGS. 12 and 13 show a front and rear perspective view of two converters200 according to the present invention mounted in a faceplate. Thefaceplate 220 has two apertures 222 sized to receive the converterstherein. The faceplate 220 includes holes 224 that allow the faceplate220 to be bolted, screwed or otherwise connected to a wall.

When the converters 200 are inserted into openings 222, the ramped tabs20 located on the front housing 10 are depressed and once they passthrough the opening, they snap back to original shape and engage thefaceplate 220 to hold the converter 200 therein as can be seen in FIG.12. To remove the converters 200 from the faceplate 220, one depresseslatch 21 of each ramped tab 20 so that the ramped tab 20 is deformed andcan pass through the opening 222 to allow the converter 200 to beremoved from the faceplate 220. In a preferred embodiment, the converter200 fits into a 6000 MULTI MEDIA OUTLET commercially available from ADCof Minneapolis, Minn.

FIGS. 14 and 15 are front and rear perspective views respectively of acircuit assembly 300 according to another preferred embodiment of thepresent invention. In this embodiment, the circuit assembly 300 includesa first motherboard 310, a second motherboard 312, and a daughter board314. The first motherboard 310 has an aperture 320 formed thereinthrough which a jack 322 such as an RJ-45 jack fits. The jack 322 iselectrically coupled to the second motherboard 312. Electrically coupledto the first motherboard 310 through couplings 318 are two optic fiberconnectors 316. The ferrules 331 of the fiber optic connectors 316extend through apertures 324 formed in the second motherboard 312.Located on one side of the daughter board 314 are filters 326 andlocated on the other side of the daughter board 314 is a converter chip328 such as the type discussed with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9. Thedaughter board 314 is electrically coupled to the second motherboard byconnectors 332 located on both the daughter board 314 and secondmotherboard 312.

While the present invention has been described as a media converter thatconverts between electrical and optical signals, the present inventionis not limited to that particular converter. For example, the RJ-45 jackcan be replaced with a coaxial connector. In addition, the opticconnectors may be coupled to single mode or multimode fiber. Inaddition, optical to optical converters may be used. Thus, conversionsmay be made between copper and fiber and fiber and fiber.

By providing the converter in a wall mounted housing, regular patch cordextends from the wall unit to a workstation, for example. Thus, special,expensive fiber optic cable is not necessary at the workstation. Inaddition, because the converter is in the wall, an additional box is notneeded between the wall and the terminal equipment which eliminatesclutter and cost.

The converter can be powered remotely from a device coupled to the patchcord using unused wire pairs in the patch cord. More particularly, FIG.16 is a schematic illustration of an adapter 400 used to power the mediaconverter of the present invention. The adapter is a device thatconsists of a plastic housing, a printed circuit board (not shown), twominiature DIN connectors 406, 408, two RJ-45 jacks 402, 404, a resistor(not shown), and an LED 410. All of the connectors and components areassembled onto the printed circuit board. The plastic housing isdesigned to encase the printed circuit board assembly leaving an openingon each end for access to the miniature DIN connectors 406, 408 andRJ-45 jacks 402, 404 to facilitate cable connection.

The adapter 400 is designed to allow an external or ancillary networkdevice such as the media converter of the present invention to receivepower via the unused conductors in a RJ-45 patch cord 412. Power isobtained from a PC mouse port (not shown) coupled to the adapter 400 viaRJ-45 cable 414. This is accomplished by coupling the PC mouse port 406and the port from a network interface card 402 through the adapter 400.The mouse port 406 is connected to the adapter 400 via a 1 m,6-conductor cable 416 using male miniature DIN connectors 418 on eachend. The network interface card port (not shown) is connected to port402 via a 1 m RJ-45 patch cord 414. Ports 402, 406 provide the PC inputsto the adapter 400. The PC mouse 420 or pointing device is connected tothe adapter 400 on the output side through port 408. The external orancillary network device such as the media converter 400 is connected tothe adapter via a standard RJ-45 patch cord 412.

FIG. 17 is a wiring schematic of the adapter shown in FIG. 16. Theinterconnection of the connectors through port 408 is accomplished byconductor traces 422 according to the present invention on a printedcircuit board 424. The signal pins for the DIN connectors 402-408 arepassed through on pin-for-pin basis. The +5VDC (pin 4) 426 and GROUND(pin 3) 428 from the mouse port 406, 408 and RJ-45 jacks 402, 404 aretapped and connected to the unused pins 430 of the output RJ-45 jack404. Since most local area network systems require only two pairs, onefor transmit and one for receive, the unused pairs are used to supply+5VDC and GROUND to an external or ancillary network device such as amedia converter according to the present invention.

An LED indicator 410 is visible on one side of the adapter 400. The LED410 is powered by the +5VDC obtained from the PC mouse port 406 andserves as a “power on” indicator.

The adapter 400 allows an external or ancillary network device to bepowered from a PC without the use of an external power supply andwithout the need for a secondary power cord. Using the adapter 400,external or ancillary devices can be powered up to 90 meters away fromthe PC. This allows the external device to be located anywhere withinthe standard cable limits as defined by TIA/EIA 568B. Providing power bythis technique is also a safety improvement. Since no external powersupply is required, the external device is only active when the PC ispowered up. When the PC is powered down, so is the remote device.

The elimination of the external power supply reduces the number extra ACoutlets required in the vicinity of the PC. This reduces cost,workstation clutter, and congestion in cable raceways, especially inmodular furniture applications.

Having described preferred aspects and embodiments of the presentinvention, modifications and equivalents of the disclosed concepts mayreadily occur to one skilled in the art. However, it is intended thatsuch modifications and equivalents be included within the scope of theclaims which are appended hereto.

What is claimed is:
 1. A media converter housing comprising: a fronthousing including: a port for receiving a first connector; a pluralityof notches located on a periphery of the front housing; a rear housingincluding: an open first end and a closed second end located distallyfrom the first end, the rear housing having a shoulder region locatedadjacent to the first end and a tubular region coupling the shoulderregion to the closed end; a plurality of ramped protrusions located onan exterior surface of the shoulder; wherein the plurality of rampedprotrusions located on the exterior surface of the shoulder of the rearhousing engage the plurality of notches on the front housing to providea snap-fit connection; and wherein a cavity is defined by the fronthousing and rear housing when the front housing and the rear housing aremated together, the cavity sized to receive a converter circuitry. 2.The housing of claim 1 wherein the front and rear housing are made ofplastic.
 3. The housing of claim 1 wherein the front and rear housingare dimensioned to fit into a faceplate.
 4. The housing of claim 3wherein the faceplate is mounted on a structure and the front and rearhousing are dimensioned to be insertable and removable from thefaceplate without removing the faceplate from its mounted structure. 5.An upgradeable converter assembly comprising: a housing; and a circuitassembly located within the housing, the circuit assembly comprising: afirst connector mounted on a motherboard for transmitting and receivingsignals in a first format; a second connector mounted on the motherboardfor transmitting and receiving signals in a second format wherein thesecond format is different than the first format; and a convertermounted on a daughter board electrically coupled to the first and secondconnectors on the motherboard wherein the converter converts signalsreceived in the first format to the second format and vice versa andwherein the daughter board is releasably connected to the motherboard.6. The converter assembly of claim 5 wherein the housing assemblycomprises: a front housing having a first mounting structure; and a rearhousing having a second mounting structure, wherein the first and secondmounting structures mount the front and rear housing together.
 7. Theconverter assembly of claim 6 wherein the first and second mountingstructure include structure for providing a releasable connection withone another.
 8. The converter assembly of claim 7 wherein the releasableconnection comprises a snap-fit connection.
 9. The converter assembly ofclaim 3 wherein the first format is transmitted and received overunshielded twisted pair wire and the second format is transmitted andreceived over fiber optic cable.
 10. The converter assembly of claim 5wherein the first connector is a coaxial connector and the secondconnector is a multimode fiber connector.
 11. The converter assembly ofclaim 5 wherein the first connector is a RJ-45 connector and the secondconnector is a single mode fiber connector.
 12. The converter assemblyof claim 5 wherein the first connector is a coaxial connector and thesecond connector is a single mode fiber connector.
 13. The converterassembly of claim 5 wherein the first connector is an RJ-45 connectorand the second connector is a multimode fiber connector.
 14. Theconverter assembly of claim 5 wherein the first connector is a singlemode fiber connector and the second connector is a multimode fiberconnector.
 15. The converter assembly of claim 5 wherein the firstconnector is a coaxial connector and the second connector is an RJ-45connector.
 16. The converter assembly of claim 5 wherein the firstconnector is an electrical connector and the second connector is anoptical connector.
 17. The converter assembly of claim 16 wherein theconverter receives power through a patch cord coupled to the firstconnector.
 18. The converter assembly of claim 16 wherein the converterreceives power from a device external to the converter but coupled tothe converter through the first connector.
 19. The converter assembly ofclaim 5 wherein the first connector is an optical connector and thesecond connector is an optical connector.
 20. The converter assembly ofclaim 5 wherein the converter converts at a predetermined speed of10BASE-T.
 21. The converter assembly of claim 5 wherein the converterconverts at a predetermined speed of 100BASE-TX.
 22. The converterassembly of claim 5 wherein the motherboard and daughterboard areparallel with one another.
 23. The converter assembly of claim 5 whereinthe motherboard and daughter board are perpendicular to one another. 24.The converter assembly of claim 5 wherein the daughterboard can bereplaced with a second daughterboard.
 25. The converter assembly ofclaim 5 further comprising a third connector for transmitting andreceiving signals in the second format wherein the first connector islocated between the second and third connectors.
 26. The converterassembly of claim 23 wherein the second and third connectors extendoutside the housing.
 27. The converter assembly of claim 5 wherein thehousing is dimensional to fit into a wall mounted faceplate.
 28. Theconverter assembly of claim 6 wherein the front housing can be removedfrom the rear housing to accent the daughter board of the circuitassembly mounted therein.
 29. The converter assembly of claim 5 whereinthe motherboard and daughter board each have surface mounted connectorsfor electrically coupling the motherboard and daughter board together.30. An upgradeable converter assembly comprising: a housing; and acircuit assembly located within the housing, the circuit assemblycomprising: a first connector mounted on a motherboard for transmittingand receiving signals in a first format; a second connector mounted onthe motherboard for transmitting and receiving signals in a secondformat wherein the second format is different than the first format; anda means mounted on a daughter board electrically coupled to the firstand second connectors on the motherboard for converting signals receivedin the first format to the second format and vice versa and wherein thedaughter board is releasably connected to the motherboard.